


The Inevitable Dawn

by triedunture



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: 69 (Sex Position), Anal Fingering, Ass Play, Bisexuality, Comfort, Crossdressing, F/F, F/M, Face-Sitting, Femslash, First Time, Infidelity, Oral Sex, Rimming, Sharing a Bed, Unrequited Love, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-22 14:27:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7442698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/triedunture/pseuds/triedunture
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Angelica meets Theodosia Prevost during the course of the war and is intrigued by the woman: fiercely intelligent, independent, with a power over even the most vexing of men. </p><p>It's a very heady summer, full of possibilities.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Inevitable Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> A quick note about the appearance of Deborah Sampson as a character: I've vacillated on whether to write Sampson as a trans man or not here, and in the end went with an interpretation that she is a woman dressing as a man for practical reasons. If you'd like to read the character as trans, I welcome it but just want to give you a heads up that the characters use she and her pronouns. It's not a huge part of the story but I don't want anyone to get side-swiped.

It so happened that, in the course of General Washington's war, the Continental Army had need to march upstate and make camp in a green valley hard by the property of one Mrs. Theodosia Prevost, a wife of a British officer but nonetheless sympathetic to the American cause. As her husband was far from that place and working in the southern states as an agent of the king, she offered the use of her home and land to Washington's troops of her own free will. This was quite a lucky turn of events for Washington, who had not wanted to take the property called The Hermitage by force, and who enjoyed the plentiful food and supplies that Theodosia thrust upon him without care of repayment. 

"Only win, good sir, and I shall be well pleased," she said, and vacated her Hermitage to be used as a sort of barracks for the officers. The master bedroom, being the most choice in the house, was given over to Washington himself, and Theodosia gracefully retired to a small cottage on the outskirts of her property, a gardener's house that had not been used in years. 

This was the state of affairs when Angelica Schuyler, sister to Eliza and soon to be a sister in the eyes of the law to Colonel Alexander Hamilton, arrived. She had travelled many miles by carriage to visit the encampment on an errand for her father, General Schuyler, and was welcomed at that place by the General and a number of those those merry boys with whom she had danced at balls in the past. 

"The pleasure of having General Schuyler's eldest with us cannot be described," Washington said over their clasped hands. (He had been her preferred dance partner at those balls, being very graceful in his movements and in his speech to her, unlike some of the young men, who tended to stare and blither and tread on her toes.) "Please do stay as long as you are comfortable. Mrs. Prevost will provide you with a bed."

He led her to the cottage and further into its small library, where Angelica first made the acquaintance of Theodosia.

The woman was seated in an armchair by the fireplace (unlit in deference to the heat of summer) with no less than three tomes open on her lap, stacked in an overlapping manner that suggested she was checking each against the other. She was older by Angelica by ten or so years, yet retained an understated beauty in her confident bearing. She wore a fine gown of purple satin with seed pearls sewn to its bodice in a mimicry of lace, and Angelica was at once struck by the almost regal picture the lady presented. This picture was only further framed as Theodosia lifted her head to mark her visitors. The smile she directed at the General was the perfect mixture of friendship and respect, as if she shared some secret with the great man. She moved her books aside to a small table and stood in greeting.

"Have you brought me a companion to offset the deluge of men we've stuffed into my house, General?" she asked, her bright eyes sparking with good humor. "Not that I haven't enjoyed their company, but a breath of fresh air is always welcome." Throughout this speech, she did not take her eyes from Angelica, and she extended her hand to her to shake.

Angelica was thoroughly charmed, and took her hand with its neatly trimmed, square nails in a firm grip. She barely heard Washington's formal introduction, so preoccupied was she in sneaking glances at the books Theodosia had been perusing. The titles on the spines were worn and difficult to make out.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Angelica said, her head tilting to better read the words. 

"Political histories," Theodosia offered, and picked up one of the leatherbound books to show Angelica. "I've been studying the Danes this week. You may borrow it if you like. Unless, perhaps, you've already read it? It's very dry and not terribly accurate; I couldn't recommend a second look, myself."

Angelica hefted the book in her palms. "Yes, the Johnston. I have read it, actually, though I prefer the Pazzalo."

"And rightly so, thank goodness." Theodosia nodded. Angelica became aware of a creeping sensation somewhere in the back of her mind. It was not the thunderbolt of desire she had experienced previously in her young life—Alexander! Whom she'd relinquished to her beloved sister—but was instead a form of spreading warmth. Not lightning, but the inevitable dawn. She smiled cautiously and Theodosia smiled in return. 

Washington coughed into his fist, and both women looked up at him as if surprised to find him still in the room. "I'm afraid I must take my leave, Mrs. Prevost, and now seems the proper time, as I have little to offer in the way of scholarly thought." 

"Oh, sir, you have other talents," Theodosia teased, and took his arm to escort him to the door. Angelica followed, and as they said their farewells to the General, he secured the promise of their presence at that evening's supper. 

"Hamilton will be there, of course," Washington said to Angelica, "if he can be convinced to leave his work for a moment." 

"How good it will be to see him." Angelica schooled her face into something she hoped seemed happy, for the sting of the loss was still fresh. "I will assist you in dragging him away from his desk, if needs be."

Washington gifted them both with a small smile, put on his hat, and ducked outside into the bright sunshine. Theodosia closed the door behind him and shot Angelica a questioning glance. 

"So you are the elder sister," she said. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Oh?" Angelica feigned some measure of disinterest, thinking perhaps Hamilton had spoken of her. "All praise, I hope." 

Theodosia seemed to consider this. "You were named you the wisest woman in the colonies, 'barring, of course—'" She dropped her voice into a mockery of a man's speech. "'—our own Sister P.'"

Angelica sought to change their topic of conversation. "Sister P? Who is that?" 

Theodosia swept a hand down the length of her own dress. "The woman before you. It is what the boys have started calling me. It is an invention of Colonel Burr's." 

"Burr is encamped here also?" Angelica shook her head, remembering the previous summer when the man had propositioned her in the street. "I do hope he's detailed the size of his family's _endowment_ to you," she said dryly. "He's rather proud of it."

Theodosia laughed, a sound that boomed louder than a woman of such slight stature would be expected to produce. "Actually, I find him very charming. Burr is a particular favorite of mine."

"Oh!" Angelica felt her face grow hot. This was her hostess, and she had just spoken out of turn without thinking whether she might offend. But how could a woman such as this find a man such as Burr to be good company? "I only— You do mean _Aaron_ Burr, do you not?" Then, as Theodosia laughed further at her continued clumsiness, "My apologies! That is—"

Theodosia waved away her words. "No, no, you are right. He can be a handful. He just needs someone to...manage him." Her eyes danced brightly as she said this, and her teeth flashed a dazzling white. "When handled correctly, Aaron is a pleasure."

Before Angelica could ask what she meant by such a thing, Theodosia looped her arm about her shoulders and guided her down the cottage's narrow hallway. "Come, you must want a basin of cool water to refresh yourself after such a long journey. There is only the one bedroom here; I hope you do not mind sharing with me."

"Not at all," Angelica said. "Thank you, Mrs. Prevost, for allowing me to impose upon you." 

"Please, Angelica, only General Washington calls me Mrs. Prevost. I insist you call me Theo unless, like the boys, you wish to name me Sister." Her grin was telling. 

"I already have so many sisters, so it shall be Theo," Angelica said.

After she washed her face and changed into a fresh gown, Angelica was led on a short walk of the grounds by Theo, who pointed out the various parts of the camp, such as the medical tent currently in her garden and the small stream where, she warned Angelica with a raise of her brow, the soldiers had taken to bathing to escape the heat.

"So you may wish to avoid it. Or not," she laughed. "Whichever you prefer." 

Angelica joined in her mirth, marveling at how comfortable she was in the presence of this new acquaintance. There were some women she had known since girlhood who would be scandalized to hear such a jest, so dedicated were they to being proper ladies. Angelica did not mind being a lady, but propriety was still a thing with which she struggled to define, and Theodosia, it seemed, had arrived at her own varied definition which Angelica found she liked very much. 

Then came supper.

The moment she arrived in the main house, Hamilton greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, saying, "My Betsey asked me to write when you arrived so that she might know your journey was a safe one. I will tell her you look well, and do us a great favor in being here on your father's behalf." His voice dropped to a whisper, and his eyes searched hers. "You do. Look so well." 

Angelica smiled tightly. She sought out Theodosia in the mingling crowd, but the woman was across the room having some words with a knot of officers, Burr among them. She turned back to Hamilton and said, "That makes one of us. Have you not been eating? The General shared with me some complaints." She tweaked at the line of his waistcoat in a way that broke the quiet moment and caused Hamilton to protest the treatment. 

As she and Theodosia were the only two ladies in attendance, they were given seats far from each other to better mix their company into the men's. Angelica found herself between Burr and John Laurens, whom she knew only slightly. She gave him a friendly nod before turning to Burr with great wariness. 

"Colonel," she said. 

"Mrs. Schuyler." His eyes, which she always thought held the light of too much cunning to be trusted, glanced away across the table to where Theodosia sat. Angelica followed his gaze and saw Theo raise her glass of wine in their direction. The tiny dip of her chin seemed to indicate some order to Burr, for he immediately turned back to Angelica and said, "It has been so long since last we spoke. I don't believe I was able, at that time, to ask for your opinion on Palazzo's works regarding the Danes." 

Angelica could not conceal the jump her eyebrows made. "I had no notion that you sought such an opinion, let alone mine. You were busy, I recall, in a search for a wealthy wife. Or, barring that, some other diversion." She sipped her wine and watched Burr squirm under her gaze. 

"Ah, yes. I was, admittedly, not my best that summer," Burr said. "But I assure you, tonight I am another man. One who wishes only to share a pleasant conversation with you about something that is not war." He leaned in, but not too close, to whisper, "If I must struggle to contribute to one more discussion of General Washington's Virginian horticulture, I fear I might go mad."

Angelica laughed despite herself, and she caught the approving eye of Theodosia over the steaming bowl of wilted greens. Hamilton, however, who was seated right beside that lady, frowned across the table like a stuffed owl.

Well, let him frown, Angelica thought, and she launched into a conversation with Burr regarding the Danish legal system, which was much preferable to talking about his trust fund. 

"I believe you may be correct about Colonel Burr," she told Theodosia as they walked arm-in-arm back to the cottage that evening. The summer sun had finally set and the stars were winking in the beautiful black sky above them. "He was quite the gentleman tonight. Tell me, have you somehow trained him into it?"

"Well, Aaron has grown in mind and spirit since last you met him, and that includes, I think, putting aside some of his more childish attitudes," Theodosia said. "We have had words, the two of us, about many topics, including that. If I have been an influence on him, I hope I have been a good one."

"If his behavior this evening is any indication, you have."

When they entered the cottage, Theodosia glanced at the hall clock and picked up a novel from the sideboard and thrust it into Angelica's hands. "Please, feel free to read this if it interests you, or ready yourself for bed. I'm afraid I must see to some business before I retire. If you need anything at all, I will be working in the library."

"Ah." Angelica could not hide her disappointment, for she had been about to suggest a nightcap, not wanting their tete-a-tete to be at an end. "If I might be able to assist—?" 

Theo demurred. "I am a bit of a nightbird. It will be very late before I come to bed. Please, there's no need to wait up on my account." 

And so Angelica bade her goodnight and took her gifted book to bed. 

It was not so unusual, in Angelica's experience, to share a bed with another lady. She had done so many times with her sisters or other bosom friends. Traveling often necessitated such a thing, and she was not at all put out by the thought of sharing with Theodosia, who tended toward the short side and would hopefully not kick or snore. Therefore she readied herself for sleep without much worry. She let her hair down from its arrangement and washed her face at the basin. Her gown was shucked off with all its buttons and stays, and she donned her fine linen nightgown behind Theodosia's lacquered changing screen. She slipped into the bed, pleased to find the sheets soft and smelling of Theodosia's lemony perfume, and sat back against the mound of pillows to read her new book. 

Angelica read only to the fifth chapter before she set the novel—a fantastical story evidently written by a lady author—aside. She was not tired, yet the book could not hold her attention. She wondered if perhaps Theodosia would soon finish her work and come to the bedroom, then decided she might go to the library to see for herself. If nothing else, perhaps she could persuade her new friend to share a glass of sherry, which might ease them both into sleep. 

She took her candle and slid her feet into her house slippers before venturing down the short hallway. Light flickered from the cracked door of the library, and, not wanting to disturb Theodosia if she was in the middle of a complicated piece of business, Angelica pushed the door open just a fraction and peered inside. 

At first she did not understand what she saw. 

Then, after a moment, the shapes coalesced into meaning and she perceived that Colonel Burr was there, laid out on the rug in front of the empty fireplace. Angelica only recognized him by his fine-boned hands, the only part of him that was visible besides his uniformed legs and booted feet. His head, and indeed his whole upper portion, was obscured by Theodosia, who was seated upon his face with her voluminous purple skirts concealing the better part of him. His hands, Angelica saw, were clasped to Theo's waist and held her as she shook and rocked above him. Small, earthy moans escaped her parted lips, and her eyes were shut tight, her hair undone and trailing over her shoulders as she tossed her head. 

It took another few moments for Angelica to fathom what was happening between Theodosia and Burr, and how such a thing was not meant for her eyes, and how horribly embarrassing it was to have stumbled across such a thing, though she felt more curiosity than disgust. Her head tilted a little as if to read the situation as she had the spines of Theo's books. Who had devised such a strange piece of lovemaking, she wondered. Was Burr's mouth—? Could he breathe? At any rate, Theo seemed not to be overly worried, wrapped up as she was in her throes. 

Angelica realized too late that she should have closed the door and quietly slunk back to her book: Theodosia's eyes cracked open and caught sight of her in the doorway. Frozen as she was, Angelica could only stare back at her. Theodosia let out another breathy sigh, then lifted her finger to her lips and pressed it there in an order for silence. 

Angelica nodded twice, slowly. 

Theodosia, smiling at their shared secret, shifted back and forth as if she were seated on a rocking chair and not the mouth of a man ten years her junior. "You're doing very nicely, Aaron," she cooed, and from beneath her skirts came a muffled groan of desire. 

Angelica stood in the doorway and watched until Theodosia reached her peak with a shout, and it was only then that she swept back down the hall, wrapping her lace shawl tightly about her shoulders, the echoes of Theo's cries making themselves at home in her ears. She blew out her candle and lay in bed, thinking it best to feign sleep, for she knew not how to excuse her actions or explain what she had just witnessed. She could hear two voices murmuring in the hall, and then the click of the front door, and finally Theodosia's footsteps as she at last entered the bedroom. 

"Asleep already, Angelica?" she asked. 

Angelica kept mum, laying on her side with her back to the door, her breath too fast to lend credence to her charade. Theo sighed, and Angelica listened to the sounds of her moving about the room, undressing for bed. The rustle of silk, the splash of water. 

"I must apologize. I'd forgotten to lock the door. Please don't feel awkward on my account; you were not at fault." A pause, during which Angelica's ears perked in wait. "I hope we can still be friends. You must be terribly offended, I'm sure." The mattress dipped as Theodosia sat on her side of it. "Perhaps you have very little experience with such things, and are rightfully very shocked. If you have questions to ask of me—" 

At this, Angelica finally did roll over and look at her hostess, who was now dressed for bed in the finest nightgown of ivory she had ever seen. "I am not some naive child," she said. "The mechanics of your...activities are plain to me, I assure you." For some reason it seemed very dire to her that Theodosia think of her as a woman with experience and knowledge equal to hers, though that was not altogether accurate. Angelica had amassed some information on pleasure and lovemaking, and a few ways in which men might take their women, but her sources were books. Poems. Stories. Tales and rumors whispered by the kitchen staff and overheard by a very nosey, very young Angelica, who repeated these tidbits to her younger sisters with the authority of a scholar. 

This state of affairs seemed very evident to Theodosia, with her gentle, knowing smile. Still, she raised her hands in surrender to Angelica. "My mistake, of course," she said. 

"It's only," Angelica said, sitting up now and leaning forward eagerly, as this was a rare chance to speak to another woman about these matters, "is Colonel Burr—? That is, the arrangement seemed to me surprisingly one-sided and I wondered—" She stopped, suddenly unsure if her musings would be welcome. 

But Theo leaned forward as well. "You wondered?" she pressed.

Angelica plunged ahead. "What reason could Burr have to agree to that particular position? I only caught a small glimpse—" A lie, one which Theodosia allowed with only a raised brow. "—but it seemed his clothing was still intact. Unless there was something...additional that I chanced to miss?" 

"You do not see why Aaron would serve at a woman's pleasure and expect none of her attentions in return," Theodosia said, and Angelica nodded. "Oh, my dear girl. I subscribe to the idea that a woman's pleasure is just as vital, and in some cases, more so, than a man's." She lounged back against her pillows, her chin propped in her hand. "Aaron shares this view as well, after much discussion with me. And I believe he loves me and wishes to endear himself in every possible way, which is why he was so solicitous to you tonight at my suggestion, and why he visits me here late at night, and why I may enjoy his mouth without the expectation of returning the favor, if I am not inclined to do so. Does this all seem sensible to you?"

"It does," Angelica said, "eminently sensible." She then added, with some measure of hesitation, "But your husband…?" 

"That callow fool?" Theo snorted. "My father promised me to him at a tender age, and as I had no say in the decision I do not think I should be expected to uphold the marriage vows, do you?" 

It was a shocking thing to say, yet Angelica gave the idea all due consideration. She did not generally approve of infidelity, nor falsehoods. Such a thing invited scandal, but then again, a woman reading novels invited scandal and the older Angelica became, the less she cared for what others might whisper about her. Furthermore, Mr. Prevost—or Major Prevost or whatever rank he held; Angelica was not certain—was very far away and Theodosia did not seem to care much for his person or his politics. So why shouldn't she be allowed her dalliances with Burr? Angelica reached this conclusion in less than half a minute, and was satisfied with her examination.

"I suppose not," she said, and the words came out almost surprised.

Theodosia arranged the bedclothes over her legs and smiled. "I am glad to hear it. May I count on your discretion? I would prefer the boys, and especially the General, to remain ignorant of my private matters." 

"Of course!" The mere idea of Washington glowering at a pair of adulterers! Angelica shivered. "My lips are sealed." 

"Excellent. It will be our secret." Theodosia reached across the bedsheets and clasped Angelica's hand. "Even Aaron does not know that you were at the door tonight, and I will not tell him. He should be spared that, I think. He was such a good boy for me, after all, and knowing will just embarrass him."

"Is that so?" Angelica laughed. It felt warm and right to be entrusted with Theodosia's secret, to have something between them that even Burr did not share. 

Theodosia gave her hand a playful squeeze. "You can always borrow him if you'd like," she said, then turned to blow out her candle before Angelica could gauge whether her offer was serious or not. "Good night," Theo said, and they settled into their pillows, though sleep did not find Angelica for more than an hour. She lay there in the dark listening to Theodosia's even breathing and wound and rewound the thread of her memory concerning the look of ecstasy painted on Theo's face.

The next morning Angelica found herself in the gardens speaking to the Marquis de Lafayette, who was delighted to be conversing with a woman in French. ("Our Hamilton and Laurens, theirs is passable, yes, but I so miss hearing that tongue in the mouth of a woman, where it belongs," he said with a grin.) During this conversation, she spotted Theodosia in the distance with a soldier of her own. The man did not appear to be Burr, wearing as he did the coat of a private and not a colonel, and Angelica craned her neck to try and catch a better glimpse of the pair. She ignored the Marquis terribly, though he did not seem to notice as he expounded on how he missed his beloved wife, his sighs reaching very impressive heights indeed. As Angelica watched, Theodosia took the private by the arm and led him toward her cottage, where she ushered him in the front door before following close behind. 

It occurred to Angelica that perhaps Burr was not Theodosia's only lover, and the idea formed a queer sort of unease in her stomach. It was not that Angelica was overly fond of Burr (despite his gallantry at supper the previous night) and thought him poorly used if this was the case. It was merely that the idea of a woman taking many lovers—and perhaps at the same time—seemed so unnatural, so revolutionary to Angelica, that she couldn't help her fascination. Only men, in her mind, would ever dare act in such a manner. Only men seemed capable of exercising that freedom. 

Amid this confusing roil of thoughts was also the idea that perhaps Theo was even now leading her young soldier to the bedroom or the library and lifting her skirts with an aim to find her pleasure, and if the door of the cottage remained unlocked— Well, Angelica might believe that once could be an accident, but two incidents in a row? That might point to some desire, whether known or subconscious, to have someone (perhaps Angelica in particular) play the part of the audience. 

There was only one way to be sure. "Excuse me, dear sir," Angelica said in French, interrupting the Marquis' description of his Adrienne's soft and perfect wrists. "I just remembered, I must assist Mrs. Prevost with an urgent matter. Good morning." 

"Good morning," he returned with a bow which Angelica barely registered before hurrying over to the cottage.

The front door was not bolted against her entrance, and upon said entrance Angelica could hear voices coming from their little bedroom. She crept carefully down the hall toward that room with her ears cocked for each mumble, however indistinct. One voice, which sounded quite feminine, rose in a horrible gasp of horrible pain. Angelica paused at the bedroom door. If this private was mistreating Theodosia, good God, that could not be borne. 

Angelica pushed open the door and burst into the room. 

The two other players froze at her entrance in a strange tableau, and not the one Angelica had fearfully expected: Theo stood fully dressed beside the bed, a roll of bandages in her hands, and the soldier was seated there, shirt cast aside, with bruises and raw scrapes adorning the exposed skin of his flanks. But when he turned with a gasp to regard Angelica, his hands flew to his bare chest and Angelica perceived that this was not the body she had been expecting. The soldier was hiding—or trying to hide—full and shapely breasts. 

"Oh!" Theodosia said with a start. "It's you!"

"I'm— I'm so very sorry," Angelica said. "I thought—" But it did not matter then what she'd thought, for the confusion and embarrassment in that moment were quite thick. 

The soldier stood and hurried to slip on the worn shirt and waistcoat once more, neatly avoiding Angelica's gaze. 

"Miss Schuyler, may I introduce you to Private Robert Shurtleff?" Theodosia placed her hand palm upward and indicated their guest. "Also known, to nobody but myself and now you, as Miss Deborah Sampson." 

"How do you do," the private said with a terse nod, eyes still on the carpet. "You can just call me Deborah if it pleases you; it does for Mrs. Prevost."

Angelica could only manage a stunned sort of half-curtsey. The voice that this soldier used was as deep or perhaps deeper than Alexander's, and the figure now more fully clothed appeared just as soldierly. The close-cropped hair, the straight-backed bearing…. Yet it made no sense! A woman in Washington's army? Angelica, it's a shame to say, gaped like a fish.

"I was just seeing to some of Deborah's minor injuries," Theodosia continued. She wrapped the bandages into a careful ball as she spoke, her hands spinning. "As you might imagine, she can't very well visit the medic's tent to be examined, and so I have offered her my assistance in these matters."

"Mrs. Prevost has been very kind to me," said Sampson. "She managed to fix up my leg where I'd dug out the musket balls." Seeing Angelica's horrified expression, the soldier quieted and stood, hands folded behind her back, in awkward silence.

"You've been shot?" Angelica asked. 

"Many of us were, Miss, but I'm healed now." Sampson shrugged. For one reeling moment, Angelica mistook the _us_ to mean women, and it was a long while before she realized that Sampson had meant her fellow soldiers. Sampson's serious eyes took on a pleading cast as she watched Angelica's face. "Please don't tell anyone about this? I want to keep fighting, you see." 

Angelica recovered her senses and gave the girl a firm nod. "I apologize for barging in on your examination, Private, and I swear to you that I will not breathe a word of your...condition to anyone."

"Even Colonel Hamilton?" Sampson asked. Angelica balked, and she hastened to add, "Sorry, Miss, but even the likes of me—just a private, I mean—have heard him talk about you." 

"Really?" Angelica asked at the same breathless moment that Theodosia said, "Deborah, I should—" 

"Of course." Sampson nodded, and Angelica flushed despite herself, smiling. "It's difficult not to catch some of it, mind, the way he goes on about his Betsey like he does." 

A bucket of ice water might have had the same effect on Angelica's nerves. She stood in the doorway, frozen and humiliated. Theo winced and pursed her lips, then said slowly, "I should have mentioned, this is _Angelica_ Schuyler." 

Sampson muttered a faint, unladylike curse as Angelica drew her shoulders back. "My mistake, Miss." 

"No, no. An honest one. I promise: not a word to even Colonel Hamilton." Angelica managed a smile. "Well. Shall I leave you to continue?" she asked Theodosia. 

"If you could assist, actually, I would be grateful." 

Seeing no recourse, Angelica agreed and for the next hour or so helped Theo in applying a salve to Sampson's abraded skin (a consequence of binding her breasts) as well as fresh bandages. After the private had been seen to and dressed and sent on her way, Angelica turned to her hostess and said, "You cannot allow this. Can you?"

Theo sighed as she packed away her stash of medical supplies in a small cedar chest. "She is a good soldier. Why should I reveal her small ruse?"

" _Small_?" Angelica sputtered. "What if she is found out? Imagine what might happen to her! It's not safe, Theo!"

"When is it ever?" she said. Her eyes fell to the faultless duvet at the foot of the bed, and she set to fussing with it, as if it could be more unwrinkled. "A woman may make war as well as any man, I think. Let her fight if she wants to fight."

"I have a younger sister who must be the same age," Angelica said. "Do you imagine she should put on a uniform and join the army?" 

"If it pleases her, I don't see why she shouldn't!" Theo cried. "You or I might not be made of the right material, but that should not bar another lady from a soldier's work." 

Angelica rallied all her intelligence for further argument, but she faltered, seeing the flush upon Theodosia's cheek. They were both very angry, and it would do no good to shout when passing ears might hear them. Whatever her feelings on the situation, Angelica wished to keep her word in protecting Deborah and her secret. 

"I see your points," she said with her characteristic calm, "and I'm sure you see mine. Let us agree to discuss this further at some later time, for it is a vexing problem with many avenues to consider, far beyond Miss Sampson's dilemma." 

Theo nodded readily at this, and for a short time they stood at opposite ends of the room, regarding each other closely. At last, Angelica was reminded of her original intent in bursting into the bedroom and she gave a helpless laugh. Theo cocked her head.

"What amuses you so?"

"Oh!" Angelica waved a hand. "I merely remembered when I first saw you leading the private into your cottage. I actually thought you might be taking another lover! How ridiculous, now that I know the truth." Her eyes watered with her mirth, and she dabbed away the tears with her fingertip. 

Theodosia did not share in her laughter, instead adopting a perplexed expression. "You mean it is ridiculous to think that Deborah could be a lover of mine?" She inclined her head in gentle rebuke. "Perhaps you are not aware that such a thing can be possible between women, but I assure you it is."

Angelica found herself once again in the unenviable position of trying to convince her friend that she was not so naive as all that. "I have of course read— That is, I've heard tell of Sapphic tendencies! It is only that I already know of your own preferences." She gestured helplessly. "For men. Such as Burr." 

Now Theo smiled and laughed, saying, "Dear girl! Your brilliant mind has considered every option except one, which is the truth." She swept forward and clasped their hands together, squeezing. Her next words came in a whisper, and she leaned close to deliver them. "I have had lovers of all kinds. Sappho and Adonis, they both have their charms." She chortled at Angelica's rapid blinking and slack expression. "I seem to be telling you all my secrets, dearest! Now then: what do you say to a short walk? It's a beautiful day." And she went to fetch her hat as if she'd imparted nothing more scandalous than a weather report. 

Angelica could do nothing but stare into the distance while her thoughts ordered themselves. Lovers of all kinds! Sappho and Adonis! Such a thing was not, could not be possible, for if it was— Well! For one thing, it would mean that her own attraction to Hamilton, so instantaneous and consuming, was not the definitive answer she'd thought it was in regards to her nature. 

Damn all knowledge, was her feeling in that moment. She liked having an answer and was not pleased to find it resuming the shape of a question.

"Angelica, are you coming?" Theodosia called from the hall, and Angelica hurried to meet her. They passed an enjoyable hour or so walking through the grounds, wherein Angelica snuck many glances at her companion, and studied in a furtive manner the curve of her smile, and imagined the sorts of scenarios that Theo might have found herself in with her varied lovers that her thoughts were running quite rampant, the most pressing one being: _Why not me?_ Now that she knew of a possibility, it seemed inevitable. When it came time at last to retire for the night, Angelica was practically trembling with excitement. 

Yet that night in bed Angelica waited for a touch that never came. She inched closer to her bedmate, then inched away, before giving an exaggerated shiver and saying, "The night is so chilly, don't you find?"

"Is it?" Theodosia said sleepily, and rose to fetch a soft quilt from a chest at the foot of the bed. This she tucked over Angelica with a pat to her thoroughly covered knee. "There you are. Sleep well." 

Angelica did not sleep well, though Theo seemed to. While her hostess awoke refreshed, Angelica felt as if her brain was not moving as fast as usual and the whole of her plodded through their shared breakfast at a groggy pace. Her mood did not improve when a knock sounded at the door and Hamilton appeared, asking if she'd like to take a walk with him.

 _Is there nothing to do in the country but take walks?_ she thought uncharitably, but consented as it gave her a moment away from Theodosia, whose piercing gaze was giving the impression of deep thought in regards to Angelica's person. Hamilton led her in much the same direction Theo had the previous afternoon, though he avoided the stream where the soldiers bathed. They walked arm-in-arm, though stiffly, and Angelica could not conjure much speech beyond simple replies to Hamilton's questions: yes, she supposed she would be leaving soon; yes, Mrs. Prevost was excellent company; yes, she had noted a change in Burr's demeanor (though she did not add to Alexander's speculations as to its cause). 

Finally Hamilton gave voice to that which had remained unsaid for so long. "Angelica." His eyes fastened to the ground as if searching for his words among the grass. "Soon I will be your brother, and before the wedding I want you to know—" 

"I wish you wouldn't," Angelica said, but he did not listen. 

"—that I thank you for what you did by introducing me to my Betsey." His eyes, which she loved, were dark and wide and wet when he looked at her at last. "I know what it cost you. And I can never repay you."

Angelica fought the well of tears behind her eyes. She smiled instead. If they fell, she resolved to say they were tears of joy. "Only be an excellent husband to my beloved sister and I will be satisfied," she lied. 

If Hamilton sensed the lie, he was gallant enough not to say so. They walked in silence for some time, during which Angelica was allowed to feel very sorry for herself, just for a moment, and wallow in the thought that perhaps no one would ever love her, not Alexander, not Theodosia, not anyone who made her mind light up from within. Here she has found a man who matched her in wit, and another woman who surpassed, but neither would have her. She would be consigned, she supposed with weary dread, to a parade of suitors much like the Burr of last summer. 

As their slow circuit of the grounds came to an end, Angelica excused herself and hurried back inside the cottage. Theodosia was waiting in the parlor in a chair by the window. A book was open in her lap but she didn't even pretend to be reading it. "And how is our Colonel Hamilton?" she asked.

"Very well." Angelica removed her hat and laid it on the sideboard, too tired to put it away properly. "I think…." She paused, wondering what it might be like to unburden herself to this woman who had already shared so many of her own secrets. What would it sound like, to say the words out loud? _I want my sister's betrothed for my own._ And even more perplexing, _I want my sister to be happy._ In what sort of world could both be true? 

"I think," Angelica repeated, then stopped again. Words had left her, and she floundered helplessly on the rocks before Theodosia. 

"Do you know what I think?" Theo clapped her book shut and laid it aside. "I think you want most the things you cannot have, for it allows you the illusion of austerity, which is of course a very pleasing quality in a young woman, or so you've been told. Do not be angry with yourself for it; it's a very natural desire, to want what cannot be had." 

"Is it?" Angelica lifted her chin, disliking how small Theodosia's little lecture made her feel. "I wouldn't think you'd know, as there is surely nothing you have wanted and have not had." An unkind remark about her affairs, yes, but Angelica could not hold back her sharp tongue. 

"Oh, but there is plenty," Theodosia corrected gently. Her gaze drifted downward, a pensive, faraway look stealing over her face. "Yes, plenty. You are still very young, so you may not understand."

Angelica felt her hands form themselves into fists at her sides. "I am _not_ a child, nor a fool! I understand perfectly well the state of things." 

Theo shook her head and stood. "That is not what I meant. I only wished to tell you that—" She clasped her hands before her as if praying. Or pleading. "Angelica, do not despair over this. Hamilton is a singular boy, yes. But he is only one boy, and there are many others in the world."

"Not for me," Angelica said. Her earlier self-pity welled up thick in her throat, though she hated its taste. "I will be made to marry, as you did, a man who will not suit me, so long as he has wealth."

"And, as I did, could you not still enjoy yourself immensely in other ways?" She gave Angelica a fond look. "To lose a first love, I will not deny it is painful, and nothing can ever truly replace it. But think of your lifetime stretching out before you!" She came closer and held Angelica's shaking arms in her steady hands. "The adventures you will have! Nothing can stop you, not even Hamilton's pretty eyes. Their powers are not so great as all that."

Angelica felt a bark of laughter slip from her lips despite herself, and she allowed Theo to pull her into a warm embrace. "I suppose you might be right," she said against her neck.

"I usually am," Theo said, and she coaxed Angelica into sharing a light supper, after which they retired to bed. 

But that night would not end as before, Angelica resolved. When Theodosia blew out the final candle and slid under the bedclothes beside her, Angelica reached for her and rested her cheek upon Theo's shoulder. "I find it so unseasonably cold," she complained, and Theo wrapped an arm—companionable, not searching—about her.

"You feel quite warm to me. Perhaps you are feverish," she said.

"Perhaps," Angelica replied in a strangled voice, and waited. But Theo did not caress her or attempt any other overtures; she merely lay there beside Angelica with nothing more intimate than a quick pat of her back. Not knowing how best to approach a woman like a man might—or rather, how anyone might—and not wishing to confess her ignorance, Angelica burrowed her hot face into Theo's throat, and sighed, and hoped that she might take the reins in the matter. 

"My darling girl," Theodosia said, her hand creeping up to brush a loose lock of hair from Angelica's brow, "if you are ill, I should give the bed over to you and seek the General's physician." 

Angelica lifted her head then, unable to contain the flash of hurt that came across her face. "Now you mock me? When you must know what I am asking?" It was the nearest thing she could say to the truth, for she was too proud to beg. 

"Oh," Theo said, and pulled away so that she might look Angelica in the eye. Her fingers hooked under her chin so as to keep her gaze. "I do not know, and I dare not guess. You can understand, can't you, how awfully dangerous such a proposition might be? If you desire something from me, you must speak it. This is no time for coyness." 

"I am not being coy," Angelica said with some heat. "Only I—" And here again she faltered, not knowing the words to use. There was no essay she could quote nor philosophy she could draw upon that would encompass all she wanted and all she needed from Theodosia. 

Theo's fingertips trailed away from Angelica's face, her own lips parted in a low sigh. "If you fear what I might say or do once you tell me what you want, then we should go to sleep and forget this discussion completely. Trust is required, whatever is to happen."

"Of course I trust you," Angelica said, "or else I would not contemplate it! But I worry you might," she dropped her gaze to their bedsheets, "find me very silly and ill-trained in these matters, and the last thing I want is to make a fool of myself."

Throwing back her head, Theo let loose a throaty laugh. "Ah, that I should expect you to have leapt fully formed from a god's head like Athena, armored and knowing all there is to know! Angelica, I promise you, your charms are many and your blushes are not at all unpleasing. If your greatest doubt is that I might reject you for your youth, I tell you now I wouldn't. Does that give you courage?" she asked.

Such plain speaking! Angelica found her tongue and her heart to say, "Will you instruct me, dear Theo, in how to please and be pleased?" Her hand rose to find purchase in Theodosia's loose, black hair. "Will you show me what lovemaking could be?"

"Gladly," murmured Theo, and kissed her.

It was not so different from being kissed on porches and balconies in the dark with the sounds of a ball's orchestra straining in the distance. The only real thing that separated the kisses with those boys and Theodosia's was that Theodosia was not so hurried and did not seem interested in impressing upon Angelica a sort of ownership. She did not _loom_ as some boys did, or groan into Angelica's waiting mouth, or (thankfully) slobber. She merely kissed Angelica in a graceful manner that reminded her of a feather touching the rim of a wineglass. 

After that, Angelica's few encounters in the dark were left far behind. Theodosia unwrapped her like a gift, unfastening her nightgown's buttons and peeling the garment aside so that Angelica lay quite bare beneath her. 

"Have you ever found your end?" Theo asked her. "By your hand? Alone?"

"Well, I—" Angelica was not certain what she meant by that, and though she hated to admit ignorance, she didn't see an alternative. "What is meant by 'my hand alone' exactly?"

"Your peak, dear girl, found with your hand, your fingers." Theodosia sat back, straddling Angelica's waist and molding her face into an expression of ecstasy. "Have you ever brought yourself off in that fashion? I'd like to know how you like it done, if so."

"Oh!" Angelica comprehended instantly, but was struck by the fact that she was not alone in such—to her previous thinking—secret and ingenious dealings while enjoying her privacy. "Yes, I...not with my hand, that is, but at my writing table." She looked away, her bare breasts heaving. "My little chair," she said quietly.

Theodosia leaned close and fairly purred into her ear: "I see, yes. So you sit in your little chair at your writing table, and if you sit at just the right angle, on the very edge, perhaps…?"

"Yes. I rock there." Angelica felt her face heat. "I thought myself very clever. Like I was the only one in the world who might have figured out such an equation. I had no idea that other women might also—" 

"Hush, how were you to know when no one saw fit to ever tell us?" Theo stroked her face with her cool little fingers. "We are all of us a sort of genius, who managed to find our way without a map." 

Angelica huffed a sort of laugh into the side of Theo's neck. "I do not feel like a genius when I am with you. I feel slow and ungainly, tongue-tied where I should be sharp." It was a confession she didn't relish making, but better to lay out her cards, she thought, than be caught in another trap later. 

"I assure you, you're nothing of the kind," Theo said, and trailed her hand down Angelica's skin to where she grew damp between her thighs. "May I?" 

"Please." Angelica let her eyes drift closed, and let her breath escape her lips in a little gasp at Theodosia's touch. She crooked a knuckle up against her sex and rolled her thumb just above, playing her as a musician might master an instrument, and drawing out the same sort of music, if the sounds Angelica made could be called such. The damp turned to wetness, and Angelica worried that it was too much, an unsettling amount of slick, but Theo merely drew her hand away with the silvery web of it caught along her fingers, and licked them clean with a satisfied hum. 

"You can always taste a woman's excitement," she said. "It reminds me of the best parts of the natural world. Turned earth. That heady scent before a storm."

"I taste of storms?" Angelica asked in a hushed voice; it was meant to sound teasing but did not quite achieve it. 

Theodosia nodded and bent her head to her task once more. "More than most. Would you like to try it?" 

"Maybe I will taste you later," she returned with a boldness she desperately wanted to feel. 

Theo, perhaps sensing the truth, looked up along the burnished road of her body with a soft smile. "There is no rush, of course. I thought you'd first want to learn." And she dipped lower until her mouth was on Angelica, and her tongue was exploring her soft, ready folds. Angelica's legs opened wider of their own accord, like the pages of a book that needed their scholar. And oh, what a scholar Theo made! Her lips nuzzled and parted Angelica, alternately light and devastating. A tiny lick followed by a brutal suck, and before Angelica could fathom all that was jolting through her, Theodosia changed tack yet again. Her ingenious hands fluttered up Angelica's flanks to play at her breasts, squeezing them, smearing juices along her nipples, making them stand pert and cool. And then her fingers were back at Angelica's aching cunt, teasing along her slit, collecting more wetness and spreading it about her nub where, it seemed, all Heaven converged. That little shape which so reminded Angelica of the heavy, hanging trumpet flowers in her mother's garden, the shape which housed that wonderful nub, was the sudden object of all Theo's attentions. And it was more than lovely.

"Oh," Angelica breathed, and felt very foolish. She had thought perhaps she would undergo this lesson in lovemaking with the coolness of a scientist, and that she would endure each little trick with ease. But her thighs were shaking like mad and she could not stop her spine from arching nor her head from thrashing. In short, it was better than she had imagined it could be, and she was weaker than she'd hoped. "I don't think—" she cried. "It will all end too soon if you keep—" 

"Of course, of course, I'm so sorry, my dear." Theo's murmurs were punctuated by a soft kiss to the inside of her left knee as she retreated. Her tongue and fingertips left their more dire tasks and instead wandered far afield. Kisses on trembling skin, a petting touch to Angelica's soft belly. "I didn't mean to overwhelm." 

"I wasn't," Angelica said, stubborn. "It was just— It's so very good, Theo." 

"Darling girl, you will make me blush with praise like that," she said, and levered herself up to kiss Angelica sweetly. The taste, she found, was as rich as promised. 

Angelica reached tentatively to palm Theodosia through the nightgown she still wore, her hands finding the dips and valleys of her ribs, her hips. To be the only one unclothed made her feel so very vulnerable, and she couldn't deny her curiosity in seeing Theo also naked. "Are you not warm?" she asked.

Theo laughed. "Last night I was supposed to be too cold so that I might curl up close with you. Now you say I am too warm. There's no need for pretense now that I've lapped you up, Angelica. Speak plainly?"

A stubborn jut of her chin. "Very well. I'd like to tear this wretched nightgown off you, if you'd allow it." 

"Well, do not _tear_. It's from Paris. But yes, farewell to my nightgown, I suppose," Theodosia said, and slipped the confection over her head. The garment fell to the floor and Angelica finally beheld her Theo nude in the candlelight. What delightful differences between them! Angelica cupped her hands about her breasts, which were small and upturned like pears. There must have been a glimmer of awe in her eyes, for Theodosia said with a smile, "Touch for as long as you'd like. Get your breath back, sweet girl." 

And so it was now Theo laid out amid the pillows and sheets while Angelica hovered over her, not as precise or knowing as Theo had been with her, but still dutiful in her efforts. Her hands brought about shivers when they glided along Theo's hipbones, and her kisses to her bare breasts were welcomed with a low murmur of approval. Theo dropped a kiss of her own into Angelica's hair as she explored at her leisure, liking the feeling of a woman's warm, fragrant skin under her hands, her lips, her cheek, the whole length of her body. The way their legs tangled together in a glide, lightly sweating, Theo's hands guiding her gently to the points of great interest—behind her ear, an echochamber of pleasure—these were all very nicely done. 

"Is it the same with men?" Angelica asked as she surfaced from yet another kiss. 

"Oh, it might be sometimes," Theodosia said. She tucked a wayward curl behind Angelica's ear and smirked. "If you train them well enough."

"Is that what you intend to do? Train me?" Angelica bestowed a hesitant brush of her fingertips to the dark thatch of hair of Theo's mound, and Theo chuckled. 

"You are not the type, I think. I'll show you what you'd like to know, but you might surpass me with that mind of yours. Ah!" She brightened, the suddenness of her idea setting her face aglow. "Might I try something? You might think it very strange at first, but if it causes you any discomfort— As I said, plain speech between us is best. But you may like it?"

Angelica didn't like the idea of becoming uncomfortable, not when she had so recently become comfortable in their heated little knot in the sheets, naked and wet, but Theo's eagerness intrigued her, and she had asked for instruction in all the ways she might give and take pleasure. Courage, she told herself, and said, "If you think it wise, please do it." A flush rode through her at her newfound boldness. _Please do it to me, take my body and make it sing!_

"Angelica, so accommodating! Don't you want to know—? No, the surprise will be part of the sweetness, I think. Come, make a table of yourself. On your hands and knees, please, facing away from me. That's it, yes." 

The exposure could not be described. Angelica arranged herself as directed, her gaze fastened on the wallpaper, and felt her breasts swaying gently beneath her. Her legs naturally clamped tightly together, but Theodosia coaxed them apart with her hands until Angelica felt quite vulnerably open. A thick stickiness coated the inside of her thighs, and as she held herself there, she felt a single drop drip from her cunt onto the sheets below. Theodosia clapped her hands at the sight, and Angelica stifled a groan. 

"Will you do nothing but stare at me?" she asked.

"I would never be so cruel with you," Theo said, and presently Angelica felt the touch of her little fingers playing in her slick, spreading it about and around her rear. Angelica jumped at when those wet fingertips came to rest on her hole. Surely there was some mistake!

"But there—?" she said. 

"But here," came the answer. Even knowing what must certainly be coming, Angelica's limbs still buckled at the gentle brush of Theo's lips and tongue. It seemed incredible that such an electric sensation was possible between two people by merely applying a mouth to a certain spot; who had made this discovery, Angelica thought between her moans, and how could she find them to shake their hand in thanks?

Theo licked her hole with keen diligence, and between that and the wetness that was borrowed from Angelica's cunt, the way was made easy enough for her to pop the very tip of her thumb inside. Angelica's spine went rigid, and her head fell to the bed below, on the pillow of her limp, folded arms. "Oh, you are _playing_ with me," she said, and it was much a statement of thanks as it was an accusation. "Please don't stop, please."

"I don't intend to." That warm, smiling mouth pressed lower, lapping again at her slit. Her thumb nudged carefully deeper, and Angelica shuddered.

The pleasure that crashed over her was unlike anything she'd achieved while sitting at her little writing desk. It came in waves, one right after the other, each more intense than the last. She cried out and shook, pressed herself back against Theodosia's tongue and hand, her hips still high and her upper body low, a complete wanton. As she peaked again and again, Angelica was distantly aware of how little she cared of how she looked or sounded; for once in her life, she was happy to let her body dictate its own terms, and to hell with what anyone might think. Besides, Theodosia seemed only pleased with her, and she cooed to her through the lasting shivers, and ran soothing fingers down her sides, and arranged her flat on the bed after she removed her thumb from her twitching body. 

Angelica could hardly return the kiss that was pressed to her panting mouth. "That was," she breathed, "very inspiring." Her mind immediately craved more and wished she could have the experience all over again, right this minute. She was still feeling quite unworried about how Theo might judge her for such greed, and so she said so. 

Theodosia only smiled like a wicked imp and pressed her own wet sex against Angelica's shaking thigh. "I could bring you off again in no time at all if you can handle such stimulation."

Angelica didn't see any reason why she shouldn't at least try, and so she allowed Theo grind their bodies together, their little nubs meeting in a messy, slick kind of lovemaking. This second bolt hit her powerfully, and, bereft of air in her lungs and thoughts in her head, she could only murmur her praises of Theo as she was moved, like a ragdoll, under the sheets. She drifted off to sleep with her cheek pillowed on Theo's soft breast and Theo's arms around her.

Though it went unsaid, both women knew that Angelica's time at the Prevost estate would soon come to an end, and perhaps that is why the next day saw them indulging in their newfound interest with near-frantic intensity. In the morning, they woke and rolled about in the bedsheets, Angelica begging leave to practice on Theo with her fingers, which she was given with pleasure. Then there was a short interlude wherein Theodosia stood Angelica up in front of the little piece of mirror above the washbasin, and stood right behind her so they were molded together, and pinched at her sweet, tight nipples and rubbed at her sticky cunt while directing Angelica to watch their reflections closely—for instructional purposes, of course. 

They cleaned themselves afterwards with washcloths and fresh soaps, and dressed for the day, though it was all for naught as they were destined to become just as wet and sweaty as before. But first, they breakfasted on coffee and warm bread with butter as Theo cautioned Angelica, "You must keep up your strength." 

Together they devised a little game whereby a book was selected from the library, and one was tasked with reading aloud from it while the other sat at her feet and lifted her skirts, licking her ruthlessly in an attempt to make the reader stutter. Angelica did not get very far, half a page at most, and switched places with Theo very happily. As she had the advantage of years and self-control, Theodosia was very content to sit and read while Angelica pleasured her, and she even rested a hand gently atop her head as she worked. An entire chapter was nearly completed when there was a knock at the door. 

Angelica stood swiftly and patted at her lips with her lace handkerchief. "Shall we ignore it?" she asked, for it seemed inconceivable to her in that moment that they should be interrupted.

"Best not," Theodosia wisely said. She rearranged her skirts into a more presentable fashion. "Would you see who it is, dear girl?" 

Angelica went to the front door and cracked it open just slightly, still unsure about allowing an intruder into their comfortable nest. It was John Laurens, sent by the General to ask the ladies if they would be kind enough to take the midday meal with the men. 

"We'd of course enjoy your presence," the young man said, removing his hat in a belated show of deference. "Apologies; I've nearly forgotten what it is to speak in polite company anymore."

"Oh, I am not offended," Angelica assured him. "Why ladies must be shown a gentleman's head when he appears hatted has always escaped me."

While Laurens laughed at her wit, Angelica felt the sensation of Theo sneaking up behind her, unseen to their guest due to the mostly closed door. Angelica would have opened it further so as to include her in their conversation, but Theo rested a hand over hers on the doorknob, shaking her head in silent request. And so Angelica, confused but game, smiled at Colonel Laurens and spoke as if they were the only two present. 

"In answer to General Washington's generous invitation, I believe I can answer for Mrs. Prevost when I say we would both be delighted."

As she talked, she felt Theodosia behind her, lifting up the hem of her dress and going down on her knees. It was quite the battle to keep a straight face as Theo nosed against her slit and licked her there, and perhaps Angelica grasped the doorknob a bit too tightly in response, but John Laurens did not seem to sense anything was amiss. 

"Excellent. Shall I come for you when dinner's ready, then?" he asked.

"Oh," Angelica said in a high squeak; she could feel Theo's grin against her cheeks. "If you would! How kind."

Only a few niceties remained to be said before the boy departed, and then could Angelica shut the door and whirl on Theodosia, who was kneeling on the floor, her mouth and chin shining with spittle and looking altogether too pleased with herself.

"That was a mean trick," Angelica said.

"Perhaps you'd like to seek revenge on me now," Theo replied, "when it is rather safe to do so. Or will you be reaching for me under the General's dinner table? I'm not sure I could eat cold tongue and nod at his conversational forays while your fingers are up my skirts."

"What an idea!" And Angelica fell to her revenge there in the foyer, which, as Theo said, was much safer.

Later, after a pleasant meal, Burr offered to be their escort back to the cottage. He lingered at the front door, and Theodosia pressed his hand and said, "Tomorrow, dear boy, I'll entertain you tomorrow. My friend Mrs. Schuyler is only here for a short while, and I know I will miss her company when she departs. So won't you let us have the day to ourselves?" 

Angelica was worried he might be disappointed, but he seemed only thankful to be promised a little of Theo's future time. "I wouldn't dream of keeping you from it," he said, and left with a bow. 

"Should I feel guilt for robbing him of you today?" Angelica asked, a delicate question which meant more than it seemed. 

Theodosia waved a hand through the air. "I have made him no vows. Aaron knows he has no claim over me." She brightened. "He would make a good husband, though. Already he is so agreeable, so aligned with my thoughts. If we were to have children, he would allow me to raise them as I see fit, and I would not bear children otherwise."

"There is the matter of your present husband," Angelica pointed out as they undressed unhurriedly in their bedroom. "He may not be so accommodating should you wish to take a second one."

Theodosia sighed. "Well, there is that. Although—" She pursed her lips in thought as she undid her stays. "I suppose I could always entreat one of the boys to murder him." 

"Theo! You are incorrigible! To jest of such a thing."

"Hm." Theo's eyes took on a faraway look before snapping back to Angelica with their usual warmth. "No sense worrying about it now. I've done all I can for this war; the rest is up to the General." 

"I've been thinking," Angelica said as she unclasped her little shoes, "about Deborah Sampson's strange case." 

"Oh?" Theodosia, now nude, lay across the bed with her chin propped on her fists. 

"Yes, and it occurs to me that my main objection to her decision to serve as a man— Well, it is concern for her person. You said yourself, she cannot avail herself of a physician the way the other soldiers might. I think if she must make war, she should be granted the same protections as her fellows, should she not?" Angelica also crawled onto the bed, and Theo wrapped them close together so naturally that the intimacy of their conversation did not seem so unusual. 

"You suggest if women are to be soldiers, they must be allowed to do so openly." Theo hummed in consideration. "I agree it would be a fair solution, but following that thread means—" 

"Whole companies of women, yes," Angelica said. "But then of course the problem becomes: what sort of Major General world agree to lead such a company?" 

"The answer would be, naturally, a lady Major General."

Angelica laughed and rolled Theo over, straddling her hips playfully. "Major General Theodosia Prevost! Is that what you're angling for, madam?"

"Oh, not I!" Theo actually flushed down to her pert breasts. "I've told you, I am not suited to fighting." 

"But you are suited to thought, and strategy, and arranging people and supplies and all sorts of things." Angelica grinned. "Would I be your aide-de-camp, do you think? What would our skirted uniforms look like? Dreadful, I'd imagine."

Theo glanced away with a frown. "So you think this is an impossibility, to have women leading women."

"It is an excellent sentiment," Angelica said, and kissed her in apology for her jests. "I hope I live to see it."

Warmth returned to Theo's smile. "I hope you do too. Oh, Angelica, what will I do when you leave in the morning? Who will I talk to sensibly about all my sensible ideas?"

"I will write," Angelica promised.

"At your little writing table? On your pleasure-chair? You minx," Theodosia teased. 

"Yes, I certainly will. And I will let you know, in my carefully phrased letters, how much I miss you. I won't let a week go by without word." 

"Even if your adventures take you very far away?"

"Especially then. As much as I enjoy your company in the flesh, I am needful of your kind ear most of all." Angelica paid homage to the spot behind said ear, and whispered, "You know, I was thinking all through dinner about the best way to make love to you. We both dislike being overly passive, I gather, I may have hit upon something rather novel."

"Oh?" Theo asked, delighted. 

"Yes, I considered— Oh, I'll just show you. The surprise makes it sweet, as you say." And Angelica put her idea into practice, arranging Theo on her back with her head on the pillows—as she had seen Theo do with Burr days ago—before climbing to seat herself atop Theo's eager mouth. But instead of merely sitting there to take her pleasure, Angelica turned and, with a delighted smile, draped herself downward to minister to Theo as well. In this way, they were as two links in a chain, connected, giving and taking at the same time. 

"Clever woman," Theo moaned between her thighs. "My clever Angelica!" 

Angelica, too busy with her task to respond to the praise with words, hummed as she feasted. Her invention proved very effective. 

 

 

 

~fin~

**Author's Note:**

> So there you are. Been working on this for awhile now, a bit nervous and vulnerable-feeling about so baldly displaying the ol' id and such but I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
